Aurelia woke hours and hours later, blinking and coughing. Her throat felt as though she'd been gargling ash, and when she looked down, there was dried blood coating her arms, her stomach, and streaking her breasts, chest.
"Jeez, Aurelia…" She winced, shuddering, hard, and trying to sit up. She managed, but swayed, head pounding, eyes unfocused, struggling to suck in air… and then a wave of nausea overtook her, and she rolled sideways, retching painfully.
After what felt like a lifetime, she slowly grabbed the edge of a small table, panting, and hauled herself to her feet, legs shaking. Her thighs felt like jelly, but it was there, lying on the mould where she'd left it. Staggering forward, tail flicking, the half-succubus lurched forward and anxiously grabbed the handle of the blade, staggering off toward the door and, as she went, ripping off her jacket to wrap the metal.
"Shit," She whispered quietly, mismatched eyes glistening as she stumbled on, up the steps and out into a small clearing, where a handful of elves waited for her; young men staring coldly.
"We've been tasked with leading you out, demon." One elf spoke, and his voice was not cold- nor was it warm. Rather, he sounded… detached. As if Aurelia was akin to a bug underneath his boot in the grass- of no consequence. The thought made her chuckle drily, nodding and straightening up.
"Might need you to give me a second… still feeling pretty weak."
"We can carry you," The elven man spoke in that same ghostly tone, and together, the elves stepped forward. Aurelia nodded, letting herself be dragged under, collapsing into one of them, but even in rest she clutched the blade in a hand, having shoved the blade through her belt.
-
Brynn ducked her head and tucked herself into a gap in the stone brick walls as a guard passed by, inhaling and holding her breath… and sighed with relief as he passed by without a clue. Still, she waited a few more moments before pulling herself free and scaling the wall itself, pushing on. The watch here was sparse- but she supposed it didn't need to be heavy, this deep into the mountains. For anybody else, this should have been impossible, but she'd always lived in the shadows, and she intended no harm.
I wonder, Brynn thought, -if this sanctuary is a living space yet or not.Either way, in and out- get on top of the wall and find my way in.
It wasn't hard- a guard saw her, and Brynn was there, crushing his windpipe, careful not to kill, dropping the unconscious body into a bush before pushing on, testing a steel door- unlocked. Perfect. Careful, quiet, she pushed it open and slipped inside.
-
Aurelia winced, waking up, and grabbed fistfuls of the grass, slowly hauling herself to her feet, head swimming. Her vision blurred, but she pushed forward, wincing and staggering on. The forest pulled at her mind, but she resisted, pushing on, swallowing.
To her right, Musashi nodded approvingly. To her left, a young Aurelia bounced on the balls of her feet, wiggling excitedly and swinging a wooden sword.
"Stop…" She whispered, cleared her throat. "Just stop, messing with my head, would you?! I'm not a threat, I'm trying to be good!! I'm trying, okay, I am-!! I'm going to change, for real!!"
She remembered, as a child, asking; 'Musashi, why is the Elven Forest called a living space?"
"Well, young one," The teacher had replied, smiling. "When magic is present in abundance somewhere for a long time, the very space absorbs enough to develop a sort of soul of its own. It's both alive and not- sentient in the most basic of ways. These places can vary in intent- depending on who's magic it's been soaking up. Often, they are territorial and seek to protect themselves, or their inhabitants.
Aurelia smirked at the memory, pushing through a visage of herself, again, shoving aside a woman with dark-blue skin and black feathered wings, eyelids heavy. "I'm not here to hurt anybody, I'm leaving, and I'm trying to make things right!! Needed the magic of the forge!"
"So you break laws and bend rules," A voice from behind her, and Aurelia nodded.
"Tell me I'm wrong to break the rules of Contracted Arms- you know why your elves stay here!!"
"Why don't you stay?" A whisper from somewhere to her right, and Aurelia glared sideways, shaking her head.
"Your people stay here because it's safe- but hiding behind safety never saved anybody, in the long run. I forgot where I came from, and I hurt somebody. I need to go back and make it right."
"Aurie!! You're like me!!" Another voice, behind her, and Aurelia winced, turning; there, a mirror of herself with half the years, built like a cutting board and grinning like an angel.
"I'm not going to fall for some petty trick."
"No tricks," The younger succubus walked forward, looking up thoughtfully. "Did you know that Dad was welcome here?? He came all the time!!"
"Your point? What, daddy Musashi is haunting me now? Or, a pale imitation of him- traces of his soul?"
"No!! I'd look like him, but that'd probably upset you!!! I know it doesn't mean much, but if he was still alive, I know enough about him to know he'd DEFINITELY be really, really proud of you for coming to your senses! What was it he said, um… you were never meant to be a murderer, Aurie. You always wanted to be a hero, don't forget that."
For a moment, she just beamed up, and Aurelia winced as if she'd been struck, blinking, eyes stinging.
"Thanks, uh… forest…?"
"You're welcome!!" The child Aurelia smiled and turned on a dime, hopping off like a rabbit and giggling madly. Slowly, Aurelia shook her head- the feelings of dizziness and instability returned, but she shook her head and continued on, sighing.
"Sorry, dad."
-
There. Brynn at last found a person; a girl eating alone in the cafeteria. Cameras hadn't caught her yet- Why aren't there any cameras in here? Do they really care so little for surveillance? I thought private militaries were supposed to be like, super thorough or whatever…
"Excuse me," Brynn began, tapping the woman's shoulder, and it took her about five seconds to realize that she was a spy, rather than a messenger, for a reason. The girl whirled faster than her eyes could track, and suddenly Brynn was in the air, a hand crushing her throat, staring down at green eyes.
"Assassin?!" The girl gasped breathlessly, turning- Brynn's world spun, and she hit a wall, the taste of blood flooding her mouth as her knees hit the floor; looking up barely fast enough to see the knee fly into her skull before her world went dark.
Moments later, she began to come to, coughing weakly, vision blurred, voices reaching her ears as if through water.
"Are you okay Haru?! Did she try to kill you?"
"I-I don't know! She snuck up on me, I-I didn't know what to do- I freaked out, barely managed to get her off me," The snow-and-ash-haired girl who must have been Haru babbled. Hah… is that really what she believes? Fuck…
"I…" Brynn wheezed, groaning and slowly forcing a hand under her. "I'm not an assassin… messenger… snuck in… official channels…" She tried to make her thoughts make sense, knowing full well that she sounded like some sort of babbling moron at the moment.
"Go on! Let us hear the miscreant words!" A thick voice cheered, and Brynn focused, still struggling to see clearly, but able to make out the details now, mostly. The woman who'd brutalized her, a dark-haired girl with fox ears leaning on her side. One with lilac and cyan streaks in her hair, smiling lazily. Two men- though one definitely wanted to be under another man.
"I'm a messenger, from the Elevated," Brynn panted out. "Can you, call, for a healer? Think I'm concussed." The lot of them exchanged a glance before sir bottom bitch hurried off toward an exit and vanished.
"So?" Haru asked, staring down coldly. "If your intentions are pure, why did you sneak up on me?"
"Official channels are too monitored," Brynn replied, forcing herself up onto her knees, swaying. "Elevated, ugh… we've been funding a company, Abasaba, to help us research possible routes of protecting and transferring souls via technology instead of magic- seems like it's impossible. My boss, who handles the operation, is fed up, and wishes for them to be punished for their folly."
"So what?" Haru asked, stepping forward, glaring. "You want to pay us? Hire us to do your dirty work?"
"No," Brynn wheezed. To her right, a door flew open, and somebody with dark hair and eyes that might have been gray or blue hurried toward her, laying hands on her shoulders. Magic began to soak into her as the twink returned, and her vision began to sharpen, pain fading. "Ugh, thanks… no, we want to help you. Something about the enemy of my enemy being a friend, right?"
"Help us?" Haru whispered, eyes narrowing further. "What do you mean," She asked, voice tipping as if she might rip Brynn's throat out if she was kept waiting much longer.
"Here," The messenger winced, sighing and tugging a piece of paper out of her pocket, proffering it. Haru snatched it, opened it, read.
"What is this?"
"That's where Abasaba keeps their top-secret projects. Supposedly you want some blonde dude underground, there. There's a god there, too, though. Careful. I'm gonna get going if that's okay."
"Who's your boss?" The man asked- gods, he's like 3 of me tall…
"He's called the Giant. Yeah, help ain't free- but by getting your guy, you'll piss off the people who failed us. It's a win win- one he's sure you'll take."
"Tell your boss he's a smart man," Haru snarked, laughing drily and turning. "I'll walk you out, come on."
Brynn tried to stand, and Haru grabbed her shoulder forcefully, wrenching her on. "H-Hey, I can walk-!"
"I know," Haru hummed simply, as if discussing the weather, wrenching her along anyway. Grumbling, she, Brynn, tried to take a good look at Haru- her eyes were dull and dead, like somebody without a will to live. Her brow furrowed, and though she wore a smile, it was fake, plastered on and showing fangs at the corners of her mouth.
This is who the giant's memo labeled a lesser demon? I feel like she's going to rip my arm off…
"Get going," Haru hummed, as they stepped outside, and shoved Brynn toward a staircase leading away. "The guards will let you pass. Get gone."
"A-Alright," Brynn mumbled, rubbing her shoulder and hurrying down, shaking her head. "Let me stay a spy, boss, this kind of thing isn't for me…"
Night air bit at her cheeks, and she hurried on, shuddering. After what felt like an eternity, she reached a gate and was waved through by a few armed humans who nodded politely. Shuddering, confused, Brynn hurried out- I did my job, so why do I feel like some sort of convict, or exile…?
Hurrying away from the base of the mountain, she pulled out her cell and dialed. On the second ring, he picked up.
"Yes, Brynn?"
"I-I delivered the message. Talked to the lesser demon like you said I should- she just about killed me."
"Just about, but did not, good. What did they say?"
"That you're right-"
"I usually am," He spoke, and Brynn could hear the smirk in his voice before the line clicked dead.
"Ugh…" The spy shook her head and hurried on. She swore, a few times on her way that she saw a flash of lilac or cyan in the trees overhead, but she pressed on, sticking to the shadows in spite of the fact that she was far from the cities.